As most of you already know, The Conscious Cat won the 2011 Pettie for Best Pet Blog this past weekend. The winners were announced on Friday during a virtual ceremony hosted by DogTime Media. If you missed it, you can watch it at the end of this post.

I watched the ceremony at BlogPaws, surrounded by my fellow nominees and cat blogging friends. As category after category was announced, the excitement and the cheering increased with each win. With the exception of two categories (Best Dog Blog and Best Cause Related Blog), where all the nominees were dog blogs, the cats swept the Petties! Congratulations to all the feline winners!

I was particularly delighted that Covered in Cat Hair won Best Cat Blog. Robin is a dear friend, and we both hated being pitted against each other in this category. We couldn’t have asked for a more purrfect outcome, with both of us winning!

Ultimately, the real winners are the rescue groups who will receive donations from the Pettie winners. Each category will be awarded $1000, some bloggers, like me, split their prize money between several rescue groups. My $1000 will be split between Casey’s House and Kitten Associates. And I even got to meet some Kitten Associates kittens at BlogPaws! Maria and Bobbie, two of Robin’s rescue contacts in Georgia, drove a litter of kittens and their mom to the conference hotel so Robin could take them back to Connecticut, where they’ll be in foster homes until they’re ready for adoption. You can find absolutely adorable photos of the kittens on Robin’s blog.

And even though we’re a cat blog, we love all animals, and would like to congratulate Fido-Friendly for winning for Best Dog Blog, and Be the Change for Animals for winning for Best Cause Related Blog!

I encourage you to visit all of the winners’ blogs if you’re not already following them.

I had a wonderful time at BlogPaws. For three days, bloggers, sponsors and animal lovers from around the country gathered at the Sheraton Premiere at Tyson’s Corner, VA for outstanding educational seminars, inspirational keynote speeches, fabulous networking, and plain old fun.

One of the unexpected higlights for me was listening to Joe Panz and Big Ant from Resuce Ink talk about their work. I have to admit, I never watched the show and was only vaguely aware of what they do. I had no idea how far reaching their work is, and how dangerous. I was moved to tears several times during their speech.

I once again marveled at the power of the internet when it comes to making connections and forging friendships. I spend so much time online each day that at times, I feel closer to some of my online friends than I do to my real life friends. I treasure these online friendships, but you still can’t help but wonder whether the relationship will “translate” to real life. There is nothing better than meeting an online friend for the first time and instantly realizing that the connection does, indeeed, translate. The real life meeting simply adds another layer of depth.

Allegra and Ruby were less than thrilled with BlogPaws (no, they didn’t attend!). They did not care for me leaving the house at first light and not getting back home until close to midnight, only to repeat it again for the next two days. They were, however, mollified when I opened the huge swag bag on Sunday morning. They were particularly delighted with a personal swag bag I received from Teri of Curlz and Swirlz and Carol of Coffee, Cats and Yarn – a lovely, and completely unexpected surprise.

I’ll be spending the next few days going through the huge stack of business cards I collected at BlogPaws, and writing follow up notes. I’ll be spending a lot longer than that remembering the wonderful three days spent in the company of friends, old and new. There is nothing better than spending time in the company of others who are united in being passionate about the same thing: making a difference for animals.

Hi Ingrid! It was so nice meeting you at Blogpaws! You summed up so well but I just LOVED learning and meeting wonderful people who share the same interest and passion…yey for cat lovers!! and congrats for the best pet blog award!! I sure hope to see you next year!!

Cats rule!! I was so disappointed not to be able to go, but I already have my ticket for 2012 so I hope to meet lots of wonderful people then!!! (and no hurricanes in Salt Lake, MOL). Sometimes people say that “online friends” can’t be “real” friends and I have to disagree, esp. when it comes to meeting and getting to know them by reading their blogs. You learn so much about someone, and even if you never get to actually meet in real life you can still know them well. At least, that is my experience.

Congrats again on your win and although you are right that the real winners are the shelters and rescue groups, I’m sure it is also a nice boost to your ego. =^..^=

Congratulations once again! Y’all done us proud–I’m so impressed by all the brilliant pet bloggers and immensely jealous that I didn’t get to attend. What a wonderful benefit to all the deserving nonprofits!

That’s all SO great and exciting, Ingrid!!!!!
Congratulations again, well deserved honor! And to all the other lovely winners too! I’m so happy for the rescue groups that are going go get this precious help!

Ingrid, congratulations again! Best Pet Blog is awesome! And cats really rule the internet, don’t they, sweeping the awards? We knew that, though! Wish I could have been there, but thanks for the wrap-up, I really appreciate it.

Wonderful post that expresses so eloquently what I also felt as a BlogPaws attendee. We do spend an enormous amount of time online bonding with fellow bloggers. To finally meet them in person and find out that not only are they as wonderful as you imagined, but so much more so, is amazing beyond words! I had to leave early due hurricane Irene (grrrr), but I must say that the few precious hours I had with everyone was worth every minute! Congratulations on your win and I can’t wait to see what is in store for The Conscious Cat in the future!!

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[…] Media, announced that The Conscious Cat won the 2011 Pettie for Best Pet Blog during the virtual award ceremony on August 26, there’s been a little more excitement even after the win. Since noone had more to do with […]